Join me daily as I blog about life in upstate New York,photography, flowers, gardening, travel, caregiving, a brother in law with autism, the importance of chocolate in a well lived life, or anything else on my mind.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Local Saturday - Drain Flies and Sunsets

Nature.

How could something I had never heard of until today be causing me so much trouble?

Every summer we have an infestation of fruit flies. Due to our mild October and November weather, they seem to be hanging on longer than usual. Normally, by this time of year, they are a memory.

But although some of them were acting like normal fruit flies, others weren't.

Yesterday and today, I entered my bathroom to use the sink and found, to my amazement (other emotions were in play, too) little flies hanging around the drain. And in my kitchen, the same thing.

Tens of them. Daring me to brush my teeth and take my morning pill.

Still later later, I had something that looked like a really small moth alight on me. I looked at it closely.

Then I went online.

One search later, I knew what my problem was - drain flies.

This is my first experience with them, and if I can figure out how to fight them, I'll let you know. We went to the local hardware store and their solutions were a bit on the toxic side.

But then, this evening, Nature decided to mess with me some more.

I looked up from my blogging and saw a beautiful sky. I ran outside just in time to take a couple of pictures from my back porchlet (too small to be called a porch), with the sun reflecting from a creek behind my house.

OK, Nature, I'm not (that) angry at you right now. The sunset apology is accepted. But tomorrow, as far as the drain flies, it is war.

I've heard white vinegar is a good insect repellent for drains. Quite regularly, I clean my bathroom sink and tub drains first by pouring a ton of baking soda down them, followed by a lot of white vinegar, which quickly bubbles up. While it's working it magic, I boil a huge pot of water on the stove. When it's bubbling pretty good, I pour it down the drains and it quickly freshens them up, so no little critters or bugs are attracted to the gunk inside. I don't know if it will work for drain flies, but we had a couple of sewer cockroaches a few years back, and it got rid of them fairly readily. Thankfully, our city decided to start treating city pipes again, because those things were nasty!

Hello! I welcome comments, as long as they are civil, are on topic, and do not contain profanity, advertising of any kind or spam. Any messages not meeting these criteria will immediately be composted, and my flowers will enjoy their contents.

Ultimate Blog Challenge January 2018

Sharing is Caring!

About Me

From the housing projects of New York City to rural Arkansas to upstate New York, I've traveled a long and winding road. Learning more daily about writing, photography, and the importance of chocolate in a well-lived life.